Zhang Wei's new novel A Physician with a Formula involves a young male physician's misguided, deviant life-nourishing practice of using women as a tool to achieve long life. Chapter One published in this volume gives the reader an early glimpse of the masterly work. "Poems from the Courtesan House and Their Stories (1)" shows the sexually enslaved women in ancient China as talented souls aspiring for liberation and freedom. Liang Shuming's"'Family' to Chinese People" gives us an understanding of the Chinese family system. All these come in exquisite translations in Volume 14 of Chinese Literature and Culture.

Coupled with the translations are commentaries by Prof. Craig Hulst, who locates Chapter One of A Physician with a Formula in the general context of Chinese culture, Prof. Patricia Clark, who highlights the relevance of poetry writing to life and imagism in the courtesan poems, and author Kyle Muntz, who gives an intellectual discussion of how the subtle emotions of the courtesans take shape in the poems and the narratives between them.

In addition, the bilingual content is a valuable material for students and scholars of Chinese studies and translation studies.